My jaw tightened. I didn’t like talking about her situation with people outside my immediate circle. But Thad was family. Cousin. Blood. And he was there when it all went down. They didn’t get a chance to meet each other though.
“She’s being extradited to California in a couple days,” I said. “I’m flying out there to be close.”
“Damn.” Thad shook his head. “That’s fucked up. She seem like good people. I hope it all works out.”
“It will.”
“Aight, well, I came through because I was in the area. I saw y’all cars. I’m heading over to Upstage to check in with some contractors.” He dapped us both up again. “Quest, holler at me later about that liquor order for the club. Prime—keep your head up, bro. Family’s here if you need anything.”
“Appreciate it.”
He walked off toward the other side of the site.
I watched him go. Something about that nigga always felt a little off to me. Couldn’t put my finger on it. But I’d known him my whole life. He was family.
I shook it off.
“Permits shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
Quest raised an eyebrow. “You handled that too?”
“Vivica’s not gonna be in a position to block shit much longer.”
He nodded slowly. Didn’t ask questions. That was the thing about Quest—he knew when to dig and when to let it go.
We stopped at a spot overlooking the whole site. The sun was setting behind the steel beams, casting long shadows across the concrete. It was gonna be something when it was finished. Something real.
“You think you ever gon’settle down?” I asked knowing the answer to that question.
Quest let out a laugh and then looked at me with his eyebrow raised. “Bruh, I’m as settled as I’m gonna get. Camille and Lyric. We aight.”
“Sometimes I think you use that poly shit as a buffer to real intimacy. Like you’re scared.”
“After what I’ve been through? I got every reason to feel scared. But that ain’t it. I like what I like. I like both of them.”
“And you sure you don’t want no kids? I see how you are with Justice’s girls.”
“We been through this. I ain’t havin’ no kids. Not ever. I’ll spoil my nieces to death though.”
I laughed a bit but I didn’t believe him. Quest had been through some shit but like so many men he buried his pain under work and sex. Maybe one day he’d see the truth. Now that I’d found my slice of happiness, after being cold for so fuckin’ long, I wanted that shit for everyone.
We stood there for a minute. Two brothers. Two kings. Building something bigger than both of us.
“I think Vivica’s behind it,” I said finally. “The arrest. The tip. All of it.”
Quest’s jaw tightened. “You sure?”
“Not yet. But my gut’s never wrong.”
He was quiet for a second. I knew this was complicated for him. His relationship with Vivica had always been different than mine. She didn’t treat him like shit the way she treated me. Didn’t throw him away like garbage. I looked like our father and well—he looks more like her.
“Look,” Quest said slowly. “I know my relationship with her has always been… different. I don’t know why she singled you out. Why she treated you the way she did. But that don’t mean I’m blind to who she is.” He turned to face me fully. “Zainab isreal family now. Her and that baby. And if Vivica did this—if she really went after your woman like that—then she went after all of us.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying whatever you need to handle her, I’m in. She’s our mother by blood, but blood don’t mean shit when you move against family.”
I looked at my brother. Saw the truth in his eyes. He meant it.
